A video released ahead of an early vote on an amendment to Chilmark’s tennis rules has been disavowed by both groups on either side of the contentious issue.
The four minute video is asking Chilmark residents to vote against a proposal at the April 23 town meeting.
The proposal would create a public committee to manage the city-owned tennis courts at the Chilmark Community Center and transfer management of those courts to the nonprofit Chilmark Municipal Affairs Council (CTAC).
Jay Grossman, co-founder of Friends and Associates of Chilmark Tennis — the nonprofit organization supporting the bylaws change — condemned the video in a statement to the Times.
“This video is an attack on our community,” says Grossman. “This undermines the legitimate debate and respectful dialogue that should take place regarding the future of the Chilmark Community Center. There should be consequences for those responsible for creating this shameful, despicable, and slanderous piece that is inconsistent with healthy relationships among the citizens of Chilmark.
The video, titled “CCC Decision 2024,” was posted on the ALongTalk2020 YouTube channel. The channel appears to be owned by A Long Talk, an organization that provides an “anti-racist activation experience” to interested nonprofits, businesses, universities and other schools, often in the form of virtual educational sessions. A Long Talk has previously administered diversity training in partnership with CTAC and the community center.
The video commends the community center for its declaration of values and has been working to promote diversity and inclusion since 2021. “It’s not about tennis. It’s about progress,” the video says.
Suellen Lazarus, president of the Chilmark Municipal Affairs Council, says the video was made by Kyle Williams, who is A Long Talk’s director of empowerment, and not by CTAC.
“We have become aware of the circulation of a video made by Kyle Williams of A Long Talk,” Lazarus said in a statement to the Martha’s Vineyard Times. “Kyle runs a racial awareness program that several board members have completed individually. Kyle completed CCC’s diversity training for councilors and staff in 2022 and 2023. Kyle also completed a training program for the Chilmark community that CTAC co-sponsored with the Town of Chilmark last summer. Kyle lives in Washington, DC, but has many Vineyard ties and follows the Vineyard press. CTAC has nothing to do with the video. We didn’t commission it, we didn’t edit it, and we didn’t approve it. And we don’t approve of it.
Lazarus also told the Times that CTAC knew in advance that A Long Talk was working on a video, but did not know what it would contain. “We learned a few days ago that work was underway. But we didn’t know when it would come out. And we didn’t know what that would say.
The MV Times was unable to reach Williams for comment.
Two MV Times reporters visited various locations around Chilmark on Friday afternoon to see what people on the ground thought about the issue.
Outside of the controversial tennis courts, many didn’t know enough to comment on the subject.
But in court, a handful of residents spoke out on the subject.
“I think it’s unfortunate that the group that takes over in the summer and leases the property from the city has so much power and control over what happens here and is not willing to listen to the community.” , said Allison Simon of Chilmark. She said that in the last year and a half, ten CTAC board members have resigned.
All players shared the feeling that there was no transparency between the tennis community and CTAC leadership.
“They seem to be trying to corporatize the recreational opportunities that exist here, and that’s sad. It’s really sad,” Simon said. “It’s disheartening, and honestly, I almost cried today.”
His comments were echoed by Chilmark’s Steve Lewis. “When people speak out, they ignore them,” Lewis said of CTAC. “That’s why we’re proposing a different structure to handle this, because it will be designated by the city and not a private organization.” Our voices would be heard.
“I remember being completely blown away by the scale of opportunities created here for local children growing up and finding themselves through tennis and interacting with adults and children of all ages,” he said . He added that he thinks CTAC is making it harder for children to enroll.
Nikeya Tankard contributed to this report.
